


Equilibrium

by Talinor



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, M/M, Near Death Experience, Soul Melding, kinda??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 21:37:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9517190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talinor/pseuds/Talinor
Summary: "That's it?" Sure, it sounded weird and probably impossible, but he was getting desperate. He'd try anything at this point. "I'm down."Keith raised a brow at him. "You sure? No one's ever done this before.""Good," he floated closer. "I like being a trendsetter.""It might not even work-""True," he confessed with a shrug. "But what do we have to lose, right?"





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a ghost keith au  
> but I also wanted to write lance with superpowers  
> this weirdass au was born  
> enjoy!

Cold.

That was the only word that fit how Lance felt at the moment.

Sure, for most of his life, he'd been cold. It was a constant sensation. Lingering in his fingertips, tracing down his spine. His body was naturally freezing, the heated rooms in the Garrison probably the only reason why this didn't happen sooner.

Well, not exactly _naturally._ Something must've happened to him as a kid to trigger some kind of reaction in his body. Something that made his blood cooler than it was ever supposed to be, slowly freezing his heart over the years. If it wasn't for the Garrison, a highly classified military organization meant to ""watch over special people like him"", he'd probably be long dead by now.

Right now, he kinda wished they hadn't found out about him. Then he wouldn't have to deal with this. It would have already been over with.

He could _feel_ his heart growing more and more sluggish. The heater, specifically built to vent in the hottest desert air manageable through the room, was now a solid block of ice. Thickening layers of ice formed out from the point where his back was against the wall. Icicles grew around him, trapping him in an icy prison.

Not like he would try to get out anyways. He literally couldn't move if his life depended on it.

He could feel his body freezing from the inside out. White clouds of breath filled the air in front of him. His limbs felt weighed down. When he actually managed to lift up a hand just enough to see it, his fingertips were a bright blue. He couldn't feel them anymore.

His eyelids felt heavy. Maybe if he shut them for just a second, he'd feel better. He'd--

 _No,_ he told himself. _That's the temperature talking, dumbass. You're not gonna wake up if you drift off._

...So what, though? He was gonna die anyways. All the Garrison scientists knew it. Probably why he hadn't seen them in almost a week now. They knew, and they knew they couldn't do anything about it. So they left a teenager to die alone as his inhuman powers surrounded him.

Great.

With a sigh, Lance closed his eyes. The cold started to ebb away. It was still noticeably and undeniably _there,_ but it went back to the levels he was comfortable with. Then it actually grew... warmer. Warmer than his powers had ever allowed him to feel in a long time. His heavy body felt light again, like a weight that sent him plummeting to the freezing bottom of the ocean was finally cut from him. Now he was floating back up to the surface.

The soft hissing of ice quickly melting made him crack an eye open slightly. He knew who it was before he saw him. The familiar red-tinted spirit- Keith. An elemental, like him. But unlike him, Keith's element had been fire. And Keith had died before Lance even found out about his powers.

Keith had been his one constant companion over the years. For better or worse, through a sea of nameless scientists who poked and prodded and tested him to see how his powers worked, Keith was the only one who stayed by his side. He left for hours or days at a time, but he always ended up coming back. Usually with a story about something he'd seen out in the world.

Lance wasn't sure why he would bother coming back if he could easily leave, but he wasn't complaining. He'd take any friends he could get, even if his only friend was a hotheaded ghost.

Those ethereal yellow eyes looked at him sadly. "It's time, huh?"

"Yeah," he said with a nod. "Though it doesn't feel so bad now."

Keith gave him a small smile. His eyes shimmered, emulating tears that quickly sizzled and evaporated into the freezing air. "Probably 'cause you're a spirit right now."

"Wait, _what?!"_

"Lance," he said, glance flickering down a bit before coming back up again. Like his eyes were a flame that suddenly popped. "Turn around." His voice was softer than Lance had ever heard it.

With a raised brow, he did as he was told. The second brow quickly skyrocketed to meet the other as he saw what Keith had apparently seen.

His own body, slumped against the wall. Icy white patterns nearly covered every piece of skin his Garrison-issued jumpsuit didn't cover. Each pattern was different from any of the others, like thousands of snowflakes blending together on his skin. His peaceful face was the only part unaffected. Slowly but surely, the ice was inching up his neck.

"I..." For once in his life, he was at a loss for words. How was someone supposed to respond to watching themselves frickin' _dying?_

That's not a rhetorical question. Lance really wants to know.

Finally the right question hit him. "...Am I dead?"

He looked to see Keith shaking his head, his shoulder-length hair flowing weightlessly around his face at the movement. "Not yet," he said. "We still have a couple minutes together. Before we..." He trailed off.

Oh. Well-

"Wait," Lance said as a thought hit him. "What do you mean, 'we'? Is something gonna happen to you?"

"I dunno how it works," Keith started, absentmindedly tracing a jagged icicle with his fingertips. A bit of steam filled the air, small indents melting in the patterns Keith traced. "But each Garrison elemental's soul is linked to the one who comes after they eventually die. In a few minutes, when you die, I'll crumble into stardust. And you," he looked over to Lance, the warm glow of his specter already flickering. It reminded him of a slowly dying fire. Pretty fitting for this situation. "...You'll stay here."

...So he'd be like Keith for the next schmuck unlucky enough to get found out by the Garrison. He looked down at his hand. His form was mostly transparent, with a vibrant azure blue shading. When he looked closely enough, he saw the same icy patterns covering his spirit form. His brows scrunched closer together the longer he looked at himself. He'd have to stay like this?

Sure, the whole spirit-form thing was pretty cool for now (no pun intended). But he had a feeling it would lose its charm quickly. And he'd probably have to stay like this for _years._

"There's no way out of this?" Lance asked, slowly floating over to Keith. That definitely felt a bit weird, but he managed. "For both of us?"

Keith quickly turned to focus intensely on the doodle he was melting into the icicle. It suddenly became the most important thing in the universe to him. So important he avoided Lance's gaze when he tried to look at him.

He knew something. Something he didn't want to tell.

"There is, isn't there?" Lance asked. The icicle started to recover, new ice replacing the lines Keith had 'drawn' in it. "Tell me what it is."

Keith shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know what you're talking about." 

"You're good at a lot of things," he said. "Lying isn't one of them."

"I'm not lying." Keith lied calmly. If he wasn't already, he probably would've caught on fire by that point. He crossed his arms. "I really can't help you."

Lance spared a glance at his body. Tendrils of ice shot out to touch the corners of his mouth. His lips were turning blue.

"Keith," he said, looking to the other spirit. Parts of him were slowly fading, edged by a light golden dust. Keith looked at it somberly. "Be honest. Do you really wanna go out like this?"

Keith looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I _mean,"_ Lance continued. "Don't you have unfinished business? People you wanna talk to again? Things you still wanna do?"

Keith looked down at the floor. "...Yeah."

"So do I," he said. "So if there's _any way_ to save us both- _any way at all-_ I'll do it. No questions asked."

Keith bit his lip and looked at his dissolving hand in contemplation. Finally, his shoulders loosened with a sigh. "What the hell," he said. "I have nothing to lose anyway." He looked to Lance. "It's pretty dangerous, though."

"Babe, 'dangerous' is my middle name. Lance Dangerous Rosales," he cracked a smile at Keith. "Just name it."

"A while ago," Keith started. "I heard Iverson and some of the others talking about..." He moved his hands away from each other, fingers seperated. "Elemental souls 'melding' together into one living body." At the word 'melding', Keith moved his hands together and interlocked the fingers he still had left. "Making something new out of what the two souls had."

"That's it?" Sure, it sounded weird and probably impossible, but he was getting desperate. He'd try anything at this point. "I'm down."

Keith raised a brow at him. "You sure? No one's ever done this before."

"Good," he floated closer. "I like being a trendsetter."

"It might not even work-"

"True," he confessed with a shrug. "But what do we have to lose, right?"

Keith looked down at the golden stardust that on nearly half of his hand with an unreadable expression. Then he cracked it with a smile. "You're right." He floated over until the both of them were almost touching. "Just a warning- if this works, it's probably gonna feel _really_ weird."

Lance opened his mouth to reply when Keith's hands gripped his wrists, laying his head on Lance's chest. Just the fact they could touch each other would be surprising enough, but what happened when they actually touched rocked him to the very core of his being.

It felt like electricity ran through his form when the two connected. It felt like his soul was liquid, cool blue poured into the same bowl as fiery red. He could feel his soul blend together slowly with Keith's at every point. He could sense Keith's thoughts, his experiences, his emotions. The retreating tide of apprehension, the blown embers of amazement quickly lit aflame, the light airy feeling both experienced. Blinding light quickly enveloped and overwhelmed the two as they fully bonded into one.

On Keith's end, he felt a creeping cold dedicated to quickly overtaking him. On his own end, he felt a wildfire heading towards him with reckless abandon. When the two sides met in the middle, it felt like a supernova rocked through them. Both sensations blended together, leaving them both with a pleasant middle ground.

He felt their (his? Did pronouns really matter in this scenario?) soul slowly drift toward where he presumed his body was. At first, he barely noticed it. Re-entering his body was a strange chilling feeling. The biting cold quickly subsided as warmth spread through his skin.

Keith came to his senses first. Lance wasn't far behind.

 _We did it._ It wasn't clear which one of them thought that. Probably both.

Newly reinvigorated, he cracked his eyes open slowly.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm not sure if i'm even gonna continue writing in this au, but if I did, would you guys want a prequel or sequel?  
> comments are always appreciated  
> my tumblr: squishy--squish


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